Environment

The climate here is arid. Our 17 inches of average annual rainfall is sufficient for growing good grass, but not so much that cattle suffer from high humidity, heat stress, and muddy conditions.

At 3,400 feet elevation, summer nights are cool and dry. Winters, although they may be cold, are normally sunny and dry.

St. Francis, Kansas is a cattle and grain producing area, located over the Ogallala aquifer. We have abundant feed resources from both dry-land and irrigated farming. The manure from our cattle is applied to the soils surrounding our operation.

We do not use chemical fertilizers – manure from our livestock is all that is needed.

Bone-char and Bio-char

Ranch Foods Direct owner Mike Callicrate first got the idea of turning bones into biochar while learning about regenerative agricultural practices from Australian consultant Darren Doherty. He then tracked down Scott Bagley, of Athens, Ohio, who has an exclusive license to sell the Exeter Biochar Retort, the most state-of-the-art technology available for turning wood into biochar. Would the same method work on bones? They tried it and liked the results.
Learn more about BonecharLearn more about Biochar

Manure – A cow’s greatest gift!

In a conversation about the cows in India, Vandana Shiva told Hillary Clinton, “Our cow dung is worth more than your Wall Street stocks.”